Sarkozy proposes Russian-European economic zone (Roundup)

Jun 19, 2010, 17:43 GMT

Moscow - French President Nicolas Sarkozy mooted the idea of a joint economic zone between Russia and Europe while attending an economic forum in St Petersburg, reported the Ria Nowosti news agency.

'In this way, we can jointly organise our security,' said Sarkozy, who also proposed joint efforts to combat organised crime and terrorism.

Sarkozy also lent his backing to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's proposed European security contract. That plan has been met with a lack of enthusiasm by many Western countries, which see it as a Russian attempt to undermine the influence of NATO.

The French leader questioned the effectiveness of the United Nations in policy decision-making. It was a strange idea that decisions had to be unanimously approved by 192 states, he said.

He cited the failure of the climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009 as an example of why a change was needed in the structures at the world stage.

Sarkozy said that in the future he planned to meet more often both with Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in order to work on reforming the world financial system.

'Our strategy in this matter is absolutely identical. Within the overall strategy we sometimes have differences of opinion, but we always attain compromises,' the French leader said.

Sarkozy also praised Russia's recent UN Security Council vote in favour of sanctions against Tehran over Iran's nuclear program.

Moscow's decision was a further argument for the French sale of the 'Mistral' helicopter carrier vessel to Russia, he said. With a different stance by Russia, an arms deal would be 'crazy.'

Meanwhile on the periphery of the economic forum in St. Petersburg, France and Russia concluded several business deals, including the French purchase of Soyuz booster rockets from Russia worth 420 million euros.

Also, Russian gas giant Gazprom inked an agreement with GDF Suez for the French firm to participate in the Nord Stream gas pipeline project linking Russia with Germany via the Baltic Sea.